


I n f i n i t y  G a u n t l e t

by tatiana_romanoff



Series: the kids are (not) alright [2]
Category: Deadpool (Movieverse), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Everyone Is Alive, Kid Fic, Next Generation, Post-Canon, i still dont know how to tag, im making this up as i go im sorry, kind of??, maybe ooc dont @ me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-02 11:06:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18809809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatiana_romanoff/pseuds/tatiana_romanoff
Summary: Apparently, some people thought it was a good idea to kill off half the universe. While Thanos himself isn’t back from the dead, a group of his “loyal followers” are about to try and make that happen- with the express purpose of giving him the Infinity Stones, so he can finish the job. Needless to say, Melody isn’t letting her dad keep her out of this one.(Sequel to M a r v e l s, and includes next-gen Gaurdians of the Galaxy)





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel???? With my writer's block??????? It's more likely than you think

When Meredith Quill woke up, she was being shaken. The back of her head ached.

 

“Meredith!” A familiar, high-pitched voice wailed. “Meredith, come on!”

 

She groaned and batted them away without opening her eyes. The captain of the Nova Corps ship said she could sleep in, and her parents were supposed to be here in another day (Dad promised to come get her the minute their job was finished. Of course, Uncle Rocket had amended it would be right after they got paid, but Mom had yelled at him for that, so it must’ve been wrong).

 

At seven-years-old, she still wasn’t sure what her family actually did for a living. She understood that it wasn’t always legal (but most of the time it was, because they were “setting a good example for her”, whatever _that_ meant). She understood that most of them weren’t related by blood, but that didn’t count for anything. She understood that sometimes the missions were too dangerous for a kid.

 

It was the whole reason Meredith was with the Nova Corps in the first place. The captain- Rhomman Dey -was an old friend, but since a lot of her father’s “old friends” tended to point guns at him, she’d been wary of her newest “babysitter” at first. She would’ve preferred Aunt Nebula instead, but she was going on the dumb mission, too.

 

“Wake _up!_ ”

 

There was a brief pause, and then Meredith remembered.

 

( _the whole ship was rumbling like it had a stomach ache, and there were loud noises coming from behind the door. The other kids were scared. The other kids_ )

 

Meredith remembered being scared as well, and thinking that her parents would show up any minute to save the day. Her father said they were the Guardians of the Galaxy, and while she didn’t know how big the _whole galaxy_ was, this was surely a part of it.

 

When Rhomman arrived with soldiers to retrieve them, that surety began to waver. She’d never seen a group of grown-ups look so worried before.

 

( _is everyone okay, good, come on we have to go- not safe, we’re under attack-_ )

 

An officer had shoved Meredith and Mr. Dey’s niece, a Krylorian girl around her age named Chiara, into an escape pod. A little Asgardian, Sylvi, was ushered into the one next to them. Right before the door closed the officer’s face went all blank, and there was a big metal rod-thingy sticking out of his chest.

 

( _Meredith what’s going on-_ )

 

They’d been launched into space. She’d pressed her face up to the window and looked at all the other pods, trying to find her family’s Benatar, but it still wasn’t there.

 

There was another, bigger, ship hovering over the Nova Corps one- it looked like a big disk, and she’d never seen anything like it, not in a million years.

 

( _is it space pirates, Momma’s told me stories about space pirates_ )

 

There was a flash, a horrible sucking sound, and then the pod had been blasted backwards. Meredith had slammed into the opposite wall and the whole world had gone fuzzy.

 

( _it hurts where’s Mom and Dad_ )

 

She pried open her eyes and cringed at the bright light. They weren’t in space anymore, and the whole pod door had been torn off.

 

Chiara’s big, purple eyes were filled with tears. She looked small and pitiful.

 

“I t-thought you were d-dead”, she said miserably. Meredith noticed she was holding one of her arms funny. “I d-don’t know w-where we are”.

 

Meredith felt oddly detached. As if any second now, she would wake up at home and Uncle Drax would be cooking breakfast. She tugged on her dad’s Ravager jacket and tucked her chin into the collar (it didn’t fit in the slightest, but she’d stolen it just before they left).

 

“W-Where’s the Nova Corps?” Meredith asked.

 

“I don’t know”. Chiara had started to whimper. “M-My arm h-hurts”.

 

She gulped and peered out at the planet’s surface. It didn’t look like any of the places she’d ever been to before- the whole place was covered in mounds of trash.

 

Grey-skinned, humanoid figures were exploring the rest of the wreckage. In the distance, Meredith could hear one of the other kids, Xara, (the Centaurian daughter of a Nova Corps general), yelling and screaming.

 

One of the natives- she looked female, and there was a little girl clinging to her legs -stopped when she saw Meredith. Her unnaturally green eyes widened.

 

“Lar!” She called, and one of the grey men looked up from where he was examining another pod shell. “There are more children!”

 

Lar’s expression soured, and he turned back to his scrutinization grimly.

 

The lady took a step forward and Meredith drew the knife her mother had given her, for protection. Her hands shook so hard she was terrified she would drop it.

 

“W-Where are we!?” She demanded. Behind her, Chiara was swaying as if she was going to faint. “W-Where did the Nova Corps go?”

 

The woman eyed the blade wearily, and took a step back. The girl clinging to her dirty skirt went with the movement, although she looked more curious than afraid.

 

“This is Sakaar”, she said, calmly. “What happened, little ones?”

 

At that, Meredith couldn’t help it. She dropped the knife and began to sob.


	2. Chapter 2

Avengers Mansion was big enough to hold over one hundred kids- there were only seventy-some, total, but it was nice to know that any new additions would fit comfortably.

 

The land around it stretched for several acres, and was surrounded by a vibranium-reinforced fence (courtesy of King T’Challa and Queen Nakia). There were also motion and heat activated defense mechanisms, designed by both Shuri and Tony Stark.

 

(There were so many that Magnus, the designated head of the place, was given a lengthy pamphlet that explained how not to accidently trip them).

 

In front of the mansion was a well-kept lawn, trimmed hedges, and a marble fountain. The backyard had a pool and a villa, which convinced Melody that her father really was trying to one up Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

 

“I swear”, she told Jessie, during the tour, “It’s like he thought of everything they had, and thought, multiply it by ten”.

 

“I love your dad”, the blonde had replied, “but that’s definitely what happened”.

 

What was perhaps the best thing about it was that everyone got their own rooms. Melody had grabbed pretty much everything she could carry from the Compound, and arranged it in her new living space with the fervor of a science-induced frenzy.

 

(There was a lab, too. It was pretty badass).

 

Most were chill about it, except for the kids that never really had anything for themselves to begin with. Mostly the former Weapon X experiments- Belladonna Howle was around here somewhere, but Melody hadn’t seen her, and she didn’t know how she was settling in.

 

Despite its amazing qualities, the worst thing about the mansion was that they still had normal classes. Stark was probably hoping she’d pursue a career in something that would further their family’s legacy, so that she could one day take over the company.

 

(Well, that was a lie, because he wasn’t that kind of dad. He’d prefer it to her being a superhero, though).

 

But things were better. It’d been two weeks since they’d all moved in, and Melody could almost forget about the events of the last year.

 

Almost.

 

 

Melody woke up at 3am, in a cold sweat.

 

“Fuck”, she whispered fervently, because the situation called for it. And then, because the mansion didn’t have an AI to yell at her for swearing, repeated: “Fuck-ing hell”.

 

It was normally Ziva- her getting shot in the back, and Saleitha screaming. Sometimes it was Wanda stabbing Kane, or Iron Man repeating, all you’ve done is prove me right, over and over. It would be enough to drive any normal person insane within a day or two.

 

Melody had been having those dreams a lot longer. She supposed she was lucky she wasn’t “normal”, or whatever the definition was when your parents were heroes.

 

The brunette sighed and scrubbed a hand across her (unfortunately, sticky) brow. Going back to sleep was an option, but it wasn’t likely to be successful.

 

Getting food, however? Now that was a plan.

 

The seventeen-year-old slid out of bed and cracked open the door to her room. The hallway was dimly lit, and no one was around. It was quiet.

 

Good enough.

 

Melody allowed the lock to click behind her (it was all retinal scans here, so it wasn’t a problem), and started padding barefoot in the direction of the kitchen. A pantry and fridge designed to satisfy a shit-ton of kids had to have lots of grub, and maybe if she guzzled enough OJ, the sick feeling in her stomach would go away. It was doubtful, but she was optimistic. Kind of.

 

When Melody finally entered the kitchen (sleek and modern, a lot like the Compound mixed with old-fashioned polished wood), she found the light already on.

 

“We have a training session in the morning”, she said. “You cannot throw around that giant metal frisbee I made you while surviving on four cups of coffee”.

 

Jessie, who was also in her pajamas, took another sip. The semi-super teenager gave her a look that clearly said, you’re up too, so fuck off.

 

“I’m not going to hit anyone”, she griped, and admitted, “Five cups of coffee. My metabolism burns through this stuff really fast, so I have to keep drinking”.

 

“That’s…not healthy”.

 

“I never implied that it was. We’re the poster children for great coping mechanisms”.

 

Melody wanted to laugh, but she was too exhausted. She hadn’t had a truly decent night’s sleep in a while; there was a restlessness keeping her from achieving any sense of peace.

 

“Yeah”, Jessie agreed, as though she was the one with telepathy. “It’s not just what happened with Saleitha’s mom. It’s like my body’s urging me to jump into action, but I don’t know what I’m fighting”.

 

She downed the rest of the coffee and put the mug in the sink. She scrubbed at it with such ferocity that Melody seriously worried about her shattering the ceramic.

 

“Same”, she said. “It’s probably the training exercise. Our parents are going to be watching, and it’s important we do a good job. Also, this is the first time they’re testing out the equipment on actual students”.

 

“We’re the lab rats”, Jessie replied, wryly. “Lucky us”.

 

It didn’t seem like it, but lucky was the word Melody would use, considering their previously secret vigilante activities. It was a miracle the suits hadn’t been destroyed and they hadn’t been permanently banned from crime-fighting.

 

(Would’ve been a damn shame. They looked amazing).

 

Ruby shuffled into the room before the conversation could continue; wrapped up in a quilt and looking impressively disheveled. Aiden, surprisingly, wasn’t far behind.

 

“Hey”, she said, drowsily. “Guess we’re not the only ones who decided that getting eight full hours of REM sleep is for losers”.

 

“Eight hours of sleep”, Aiden mused, wistfully. “I used to know what that was like”.

 

Melody snorted and opened the fridge. It was bigger than any appliance had a right to be, and there was a rumor going around that it was made of adamantium.

 

“Sure”, she drawled, and pulled out a Tupperware container filled with some kind of meat dish (there was a post-it note on the lid, with Wanda’s name scribbled on it). “You think Wilson would kill me if I ate her take-out?”

 

“You don’t need the answer to that question”, Jessie said, which was true, but not appreciated. They’d been living together long enough for her to throw her a bone every now and then. “Also, that’s not take-out”.

 

“I think Penny made that for her”. Ruby yawned and sat down at one of the counter’s stools. She looked paler than usual, and worry tugged at Melody’s heartstrings.

 

Aiden made a face. “Penny can cook?”

 

“Penny can try. She burns pretty much everything, but it’s made with love”.

 

Out of curiosity, the self-proclaimed engineer cracked open the container and sniffed the contents. Almost immediately, she choked on a gag and hid it behind several cartons of milk (one regular, one almond, and one soy. Whoever had soy needed to leave).

 

“If that’s made with love”, Melody managed, around a cough, “her love must taste like shit”.

 

“You’re not one to talk. Remember when you tried making a cake?”

 

“Hey. It wasn’t that bad!”

 

“You gave everyone in the Compound food poisoning”. Jessie shuddered at the memory- normally, her immune system would prevent things like that, but evidently super soldier serum made exceptions. Even Bruce had been knocked on his ass for a few days, and the idea of destroying his bathroom and starting fresh had been tossed around.

 

Ruby giggled. Luckily, she managed to muffle the worst of it into her blanket. “Me and Izzy were on vacation with our parents when that happened. We came home, and it was like a bomb had gone off”.

 

“Yeah. A vomit bomb”.

 

“I get it”, Melody insisted, and started rooting around for something else to eat. If there wasn’t anything in the fridge, the pantry was next in her quest. There was no OJ, which was highly disappointing.

 

“Okay, okay”. The redhead started tracing the marble with her pointer finger. “Are you ready for the exercise tomorrow?”

 

“As ready as I’ll ever be”.

 

“Hm. Is Jess gonna be okay, living on caffeine?”

 

“Ha! Told you!”

 

Jessie groaned. “I’m going to be fine. You guys are just jerks. How did you know I was drinking coffee?”

 

“I read minds”.

 

Aiden, who was the nicest in this rare turn of events, looked slightly concerned. “Is there any particular reason you can’t sleep?”

 

She waved a dismissive hand. “The usual. Nightmares”.

 

Melody winced in sympathy and moved on to the pantry, where she located a huge box of potato chips. She grabbed a bag and tore into it with vigor.

 

Salt & vinegar, hell yes!

 

Aiden didn’t ask Jessie to elaborate. All of their nightmares probably involved similar themes, anyway, whether it was their failed mission or the battle with their parents. The gleam in his eyes morphed into a certain sadness.

 

“Right”, he muttered. “Nightmares”.

 

“That why you’re up, too?”

 

“Nah. Nerves”.

 

Melody grabbed another bag of chips and hurled it at his head, undaunted when he caught it before it could bounce off his chin. “Li-ar”.

 

Aiden squawked, offended. Meanwhile, Ruby kicked at his shin and said, “I heard you tossing and turning, dude”.

 

Jessie shushed them, because Jessie thought about things like waking other people up. If Magnus came in, he’d order them all back to bed- and Melody didn’t want that to happen.

 

“Be quiet”, she said, not unkindly. “Aiden, you don’t need to lie about nightmares. Ruby, you look worse than he does. Are you alright?”

 

Aiden grumbled an unnecessary apology, while Ruby shrunk down in her seat. She looked small and defensive, huddled like that, and Melody felt the urge to kick a wall. Or perhaps destroy one with her epic radiation powers.

 

“I’m fine”, she promised. “It’s Weapon X stuff. Not as bad as it used to be”.

 

Not long after the Avengers Mansion Project was announced, the kids from the mercenary(ish) team all got separate therapists to help with their issues. It was good to hear that it was helping.

 

(Melody’s mother suggested her own husband and daughter seek out professional help to talk out their own problems, but that had yet to happen).

 

Aiden was squinting at her like he knew something his teammates didn’t. It wasn’t a trustworthy expression, not that the archer himself would withhold information that could prove potentially dangerous.

 

At least, Melody didn’t think so.

 

“Uh”, she said. “Share with the class?”

  
Aiden flinched and fidgeted. “What do you mean?”

 

“What do you mean, what do you mean? You look like you’re hiding something, so spill”.

 

Jessie opened her mouth to join in (hopefully to pressure Clint’s prodigal son, and not tell Melody to stop), but Ruby cleared her throat.

 

“It’s not important, and I want you guys to focus on the exercise. I’ll tell you afterwards, okay?”

 

She honestly didn’t believe that for a second- and was only more suspicious -but the kid was acting like a kicked puppy, and that just wasn’t fair.

 

“Fine”, Jessie relented, although unconvincingly. “But you will tell us”.

 

“Of course. Really, we’re good”.

 

Aiden was rocking back and forth on his heels, maybe having an internal argument. For a second, Melody thought he was going to speak, but then Magnus appeared in the doorway.

 

He looked…tired, but immaculately dressed. She’d never seen him wear anything other than suits, and entertained the notion that the former SHIELD agent was a robot.

 

“Nice to see you’re enjoying the facilities”, he said, with a certain twinkle in his eye. In a way, he was everybody’s grandfather. “But, I think it’s high time all of you went back to bed. Melody, Jessie, Aiden- the training room at 8am sharp”.

 

“We know”, they chorused, as Ruby smirked.

 

It was in Melody’s nature to argue, but it would hardly be worth it. She offered a half-hearted wave to her friends and went back to her bedroom, taking a second bag of chips with her (they were good, okay?)

 

She flopped onto the mattress (soft as a cloud), and buried her face in the pillow. Now that the initial shock from the nightmare had faded, apprehension for the morning had taken its place. The actual Avengers would be watching them, and considering they’d fought up close, it shouldn’t make her quite as antsy.

 

It still did. Because Melody’s brain sucked, and this was different. And now Aiden and Ruby were conspiring, whatever that meant. Or, maybe something was actually wrong with the psychic, and he was the only person who knew about it. Neither of those options were appealing in any circumstance.

 

Sighing, she opened her snack and started sneaking bites under the covers. Closer to 6am, she’d head back to the kitchen and make some coffee, Jessie’s teasing be damned. Maybe if she made enough for all of the Junior Avengers, their patriotic co-leader wouldn’t say anything about the hypocrisy.

 

Still better, Melody reminded herself, because even though things were sometimes tense, and everyone was coping, it could be so much worse. It’s still better.

 

She reached for another chip, and found that the bag was already empty.

 

Dammit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> press f to pay respects for melody's chips

**Author's Note:**

> have mercy on me, but mostly these characters


End file.
